Right now, recreational marijuana is illegal in Florida. However, you know well from watching the news that many states have recently legalized it.
You feel like Florida is simply lagging behind the times. Can you go to another state where recreational use is legal, buy your marijuana there, and then bring it back to Florida with you? Is this a viable way to get around the laws that say shops cannot legally sell it in the state?
You can never cross state lines
There are a few reasons that doing this is still illegal, starting with the fact that federal law still mandates that carrying marijuana across state lines is illegal. Even if you were in one state with legal marijuana and you drove or flew into another state with the same level of legality, taking the marijuana over that line means you have broken the law. The same is certainly true if you bring it into Florida.
Beyond that, the law doesn’t just say that it’s illegal to buy marijuana in Florida; it says you can’t even possess it. Therefore, if the police arrest you and you explain that you bought it in a state where that purchase was legal, they won’t care. They can still show that you broke Florida’s drug laws, and you can get arrested for possession and related offenses.
What should you do if this happens?
Things like this are bound to happen more as states settle on very different types of drug laws, rather than the uniform approach that was previously used. If you wind up facing charges, you need to know about your defense options.